Businesses or other entities having a need for volume printing typically purchase a production printer. A production printer is a high-speed printer used for volume printing, such as 100 pages per minute or more. The production printers are typically continuous-form printers that print on paper or some other printable medium that is stored on large rolls.
A production printer typically includes a localized print controller that controls the overall operation of the printing system, a print engine (sometimes referred to as an “imaging engine” or as a “marking engine”), and a drier. The print engine includes one or more printhead assemblies, with each assembly including a printhead controller and a printhead (or array of printheads). An individual printhead includes multiple tiny nozzles (e.g., 360 nozzles per printhead depending on resolution) that are operable to discharge colorants as controlled by the printhead controller. The printhead array is formed from multiple printheads that are spaced in series along a particular width so that printing may occur across the width of the medium. Printhead arrays can also consist of multiple heads marking the same location on the medium with different colorants. The drier is used to heat the medium to dry the colorant(s).
In dryers that apply a great deal of heat over a short period of time, it remains a problem to ensure that the medium is properly dried. Too much heat can cause the medium to char or burn. At the same time, too little heat can result in the colorant on the medium remaining wet, resulting in smearing or offsetting that reduces the print quality of jobs. Further, different combinations of colorants and print medium materials require different amounts of heating to achieve adequate drying without burning. Thus, a print operator (or the printer manufacturer) often spends a considerable amount of time characterizing a combination of print media and colorant at a printing system.
Thus, printing system operators continue to desire printing systems with enhanced functionality.